Brush Hogs-Meanest & Nastiest

[Alan L.]

My Rhino's not quite that heavy.....

Alan L., TX

 

[Bird]

Steve, I would like to see a picture of those. A couple of months ago, on a trip through Tennessee on I-40, twice I saw a machine I hadn't seen before and don't know anything about. They looked like stump grinders mounted in place of the bucket on big track hoes, and they were really shredding some big stuff along the right-of-way. I'm wondering whether they were similar to what you're talking about.

Bird

 

[VinNB]

A few weeks ago I saw a wheeled excavator working along side the road clearing brush. it had a very large flail mower mounted on the arm. If they did this every year it would work quite well but they hadn't done this in at least five years. All it did was beat the trees to peices and make an awful mess. In places they also seemed to run into the ground and beat that to peices too.
The heaviest bush hog i have ever seen in action is the JD 709. We use this to keep the farm yard where I work cut. Teamed with the M8200 or another farmers JD 6300 this thing is unstopable. If you can drive over it, you can cut it.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

<font color=blue>...JD 709. ..</font color=blue>

Vernon,

That John Deere unit is one of their best/ if not their best...

But... this Rhino has over twice the steel of even that tough John Deere...

 

[Bird]

VinNB, now that you mention it, it's possible that was what I saw. Of course they were running at the time, and I was passing by at 70 mph with a lot of traffic, so I didn't really get a good look either time. I know they were shredding some pretty big stuff and going right down to the ground. And the only time I've even seen a flail mower in use was on the same trip when I saw a couple of guys mowing along the U.S. 460 right-of-way in West Virginia in the rain.

Bird

 

[JonLeonard]

All of the interstate cutting crews in West Virginia, as far as I know, use flail mowers. One mounted to each side of the tractor and one in the back. The side mowers can be lifted up to get around things like mile markers and trees.

When all 3 are down and in use, they cut about a 15' path (my estimate). Leave a decent cut too.

 

[Bird]

That's interesting, Jon. Around here they generally use 15' brush hogs or rotary cutters. I wonder how either of them decided to use the particular type they picked. Of course, you have a lot of rock that we don't have, so I wonder whether that entered into the decision. It did not appear to me as if the flail mowers I saw being used would launch rocks and other projectiles like a rotary cutter, and if they did, the projectiles would go straight behind then instead of some going to the side into traffic (as sometimes happens here). And of course, that's pure speculation on my part./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Bird

 

[JonLeonard]

In West Virginia, such complex technical decisions like which type of mower to use by the department of highways is done the old fashioned way. A sales rep takes a politician out to dinner, the opera, a big game, sends wine, gives to reelection funds...you know how that works.

Just kidding of course, but with some of the screwy decisions that get made, you wonder if its not the case /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Kidding aside, I have never seen a flail mower throw a rock, and as you mentioned they use them rain or shine as long as the tractors dont start to sink. I also believe that flail mowers have a lower horsepower requirement, so it may simply be a monitary decision.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

How about a little "mower 101". What's a flail mower? Is it like a brush cutter or more like a finish mower? What advantage does it have? How do the 2 types compare in price?

PitbullMidwest

 

[JonLeonard]

Here is a link to one of the landpride models -> http://www.landpride.com/lp/products/fm40_specs.html

Im also embedding the picture with the post. As to how they compare in price, I really have no idea

 

[Anonymous Poster]

JonLeonard,
So a flail mower rotates around a horizontal axis sorta like the old reel mower dad made me push as a kid? Can they handle tough brush like a rotory mower?

PitbullMidwest

 

[JonLeonard]

It seems to be made very similarly to a rototiller, but the blades swing freely like the ones on a bush hog, they are shaped like an L. I have seen them pulverize some relatively large things like 6' tall sapplings (I know, thats nothing compared to what some bush hogs will do!). The use the highway department puts to them is semi-finish mowing, so they would logically seem to be somewhere between a finish mower and brush hog in terms of capabilities.

This thread has gotten me to wondering if it might be a good substitute for the mid-mount mower and bush hog combo that most people buy.

We need to find someone who has actually used one to comment on its abilities.

 

[Hillbilly]

I have seen a lot of brush hogs and side mount brush hogs for the banks here in West Virginia,they mow the road I live on once a year whether it needs it or not.A lot of blacktop was put on the roads last year during the election campaign.

 

[Bird]

Hillbilly, our county has a tractor with a heavy duty brush hog on a hydraulic boom on the right side, and a big heavy weight box on the left side. They not only mow a few steep banks, but raise that thing up and "prune" trees along the road. And they can prune them pretty high up, too.

Bird

 

[Anonymous Poster]

<font color=blue>...big heavy weight box on the left side...</font color=blue>

That's the hydraulic tank to run that massive hydraulic motor on the cutter... {~~15-25 gpm} /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[MReeter]

John,As you know, we just bought a Rhino Turf Flex Mower.I researched this type mower for the past year,comparing every other make I could find.I decided on the Rhino because of the reasons that your post displays.This equipment is BUILT,I mean "that dog will hunt".A few years ago I was in my stand Bow Hunting,when I heard the damned noise coming down a set of Railroad tracks I was set up next to.The ground was shaking and the closer this "thing" got,the louder it became.I became soo nervous that I scaled down my tree to see just what this "thing" was.Turned out it was a Rail Machine that had a Massive brush cutter on both sides of it,reaching out and clearing the Right of Way.This cutter was chewing up trees that were close to 6"-8" and spitting them out like toothpicks.I have not seen anything that would compare to these cutters until now.

 

[Bird]

Hadn't really thought about that, John. I've never stopped to look at that thing when it parked, and don't want to be anywhere in the vicinity when it's running, but I guess that's a possibility; just looks like a monstrous square steel box. I'll be it'd hold a hundred gallons./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

 

[Mike_Dumond]

I had the ocassion to use a flail mower a few years back. Actually used it for two years. Belonged to my brother, and I was storing/using it. It was a five foot, (I think woods, not sure), and I was runing it on my B6100D. Took a few seconds to run up to speed, then away I went.

Didn't matter if I was mowing the back yard, or going through the brush. It did a magnificent job. The grass was cut as clean and neet as my Husqvarna ever did. And the brush was cut and chipped in one pass. Also used it in the garden, just before tilling. I'd make a pass, pulverizing whatever plants and stalks were there, then I'd till them in.

Don't know why he sold it without giving me a chance to buy it first, but I still haven't forgiven him.

 

[ljh2]

The hydro-axe looks like
this. They used to use them to clear HEAVILY overgrown highway frontage in northern MN where I grew up.

-larry

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by ljh2 on 08/14/01 02:53 PM (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[Hillbilly]

I know, they really cut some big stuff,it really makes a racket,I do not know how it holds together,they are really rough on the equipment,I guess that is ok when someone else is paying for it!